(WWJ) Could these new images help find three missing brothers from Michigan?
This Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2020, marks 10 years since Andrew, Alexander, and Tanner Skelton vanished from Morenci in Lenawee County, at 9, 7, and 5 years old.
To mark the date, forensic artists at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) have created new age progression images (above) to show what the brothers might look like today, at 19, 17, and 15 years old.
“I will never quit looking,” said Tanya Zuvers, the boys’ mother, in a statement Wednesday. “I will continue to fight on their behalf for justice.”
Investigators say on the night after Thanksgiving in 2010, the boys were in the care of their father John Skelton, amidst of a divorce and custody battle with their mom. In those early morning hours, police say John’s phone could be tracked leaving his home, travelling 25 miles southwest into Holiday City, Ohio, and returning without the boys.
John Skelton has given conflicting accounts of what happened to Andrew, Alexander and Tanner, including giving them to an underground group, but police say his claims just didn't add up.
The father pleaded no contest to three counts of unlawful imprisonment in September 2011. He was sentenced to 10-15 years in prison, and is due to be released in 2025.
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While the search continues, NCMEC and police Michigan State Police hope that these new images debuting on the decade-marker will revamp long-held public interest in the case and finally bring in the tips they need to bring the boys home to their mom.
“Every so often we’ll get a tip that makes a lot of sense to us,” said MSP Det. Lt. Jeremy Brewer. “We’ll throw everything at it, all our resources… If anyone recalls anything from 10 years ago, maybe about a blue Dodge Caravan over in [the Morenci, Michigan or Holiday City, Ohio areas], that would be helpful. We rely on the public quite a bit to be our eyes and ears on the ground.”
“The age progressions are always the hardest for me,” said the boys’ aunt, Tennille McCain. “In my mind I still see them as 5, 7, and 9. Their faces are etched in my mind. I just wish answers could be given. Anyone who potentially knows anything —- and I believe more than one person knows something, I believe that it’s not just John who has the answers — could find it in themselves to come forward.”
Anyone who has information on the Skelton brothers is asked to call Michigan State Police at 1-517-636-0689, or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
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